Will This Trick Help You Secure a Hyatt Award Stay?

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    Million Mile Secrets reader, Glenn, commented:

    I want to book a Hyatt award stay in advance of receiving my 2 free night certificates from the Chase Hyatt card sign-up bonus.  If I book the room now with Hyatt points, would Hyatt let me cancel the reservation and rebook using the free night certificates?

    I reached out to Hyatt to find out.  And it’s likely you can use this strategy to get an award stay for your desired travel dates.

    Because you’ll secure the award nights using points.  Then, you can cancel the reservation and rebook using your Hyatt free night certificates.

    Use Points to Book an Award Night at the Park Hyatt Dubai to Secure Your Travel Date. Then, Cancel and Rebook With the Chase Hyatt Free Night Certificates

    I’ll explain how this trick would work.  And some potential risks in booking this way.

    Chase Hyatt 2 Free Nights

    Link:   Chase Hyatt

    Link:   My Review of the Chase Hyatt Card

    With the Chase Hyatt card, you’ll get 2 free nights at ANY Hyatt hotel after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months.

    The free night certificates typically post to your Hyatt loyalty account a few days after the statement close date in which you meet the spending requirement.  And you have 12 months from the date they’re issued to redeem them.

    The 2 Free Night Certificates Hit Your Hyatt Account a Few Days After You Complete the Chase Hyatt Card Minimum Spending Requirement

    Hyatt has a “no blackout date” policy.  This means you can book an award night using points or a free night certificate as long as a standard room is available for sale.

    So as reader Glenn suggested, you could book an award stay using Hyatt points while waiting to earn Chase Hyatt card sign-up bonus.

    For example, I found 2 award nights available at the Park Hyatt Sydney in September 2017, which cost 30,000 Hyatt points per night.  So you could book this stay with points to secure your desired travel dates.

    I Found a Sample Award Stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney for 30,000 Points per Night

    Then, once you earn the Chase Hyatt sign-up bonus and receive your free night certificates, you can book a stay for the same dates.  And cancel your existing reservation to get the points back.

    You Can Book a Stay for the Same Dates Using the Free Night Certificates From the Chase Hyatt Sign-Up Bonus
    Note:   When booking online, you can only redeem one free night certificate at a time.  So you must book 2 separate reservations if you’re staying consecutive nights.  Or you can call Hyatt at 888-354-9288 to book the reservation for you.

    Risks With Book, Cancel, and Rebook Trick

    Before you book an award stay with points, carefully read the hotel’s cancellation policy.  Because it’s possible you won’t be able to get the points back if you cancel too close to your arrival.

    Check the Hotel Policy to Confirm You’re Able to Get Your Points Back If You Cancel an Award Stay Reservation

    Also, if you use this trick, I recommend calling Hyatt to cancel and rebook with the free night certificates.  Because if you cancel online, there’s a chance someone else could book the same room.  This means there might not be any standard rooms available to use your free night certificates.

    This strategy might be a good idea for folks with lots of Hyatt points.  But I’m not sure I’d recommend transferring valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt to take advantage of this trick unless you stay with Hyatt often.  Because you will NOT be able to get the Hyatt points back to your Chase Ultimate Rewards account.

    Bottom Line

    Reader Glenn suggested a trick to secure a Hyatt hotel room for folks waiting to earn the 2 free night sign-up bonus on the Chase Hyatt card.

    You can book an award stay using Hyatt points.  Then, cancel and rebook with your free night certificates.

    Before you do this, I recommend checking the hotel’s cancellation policy to make sure you can get your points refunded.  And I recommend calling Hyatt at 888-354-9288 to make the changes to your reservation instead of doing it online.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
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